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07-24-2006, 05:41 PM
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Bush's Personal Aide To Enroll at Business School
Gottesman, college dropout and former beau to Bush daughter, to
begin in the fall
Published On 5/22/2006
By PARAS D. BHAYANI
Crimson Staff Writer
A 26-year-old college dropout who carries President Bush's breath
mints and makes him peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches will follow
in his boss's footsteps this fall when he enrolls at Harvard
Business School (HBS).
Though it is rare for HBS—or any other professional or graduate
school—to admit a student who does not have an undergraduate degree,
admissions officers made an exception for Blake Gottesman, who for
four years has served as special assistant and personal aide to
Bush.
Gottesman, a Texas native who attended Claremont-McKenna College in
California for one year, has long had ties to the Bush family. He
dated the president's daughter, Jenna Bush, nearly ten years ago
when he attended St. Andrew's Episcopal School of Austin.
After completing his freshman year at Claremont in 1999, he left to
join the Bush presidential campaign and later served as a junior
aide to former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card. In February
2002, he became the president's personal assistant.
In his current role, Gottesman performs a wide range of duties, from
dog-sitting the president's Scottish terriers, Barney and Miss
Beazley, to carrying the president's speeches and giving him
the "two-minute warning" before a speech begins.
Gottesman has declined all requests for comment on his business
school admission, but White House staffers have described him as
loyal, warm, and fun-loving.
"He is a friend and adviser to every employee of the White House,
from career maintenance workers to cabinet secretaries," Deputy
Chief of Staff Joe Hagin told The Myrtle Beach Sun News. "He is
consistently kind and warm and generous with his time and provides
extraordinarily good advice."
Gottesman has likened his role at the White House to that of Charlie
Young on the NBC television program "The West Wing." When asked
about his similarity to Young in an interactive question-and-answer
session on the White House's Web site, Gottesman wrote, "Charlie
seems to be smarter, funnier, and better-looking. But, from what I
remember—our jobs are probably pretty similar."
HBS spokesman James E. Aisner '68 explained the decision to accept
Gottesman, even though he is not a college graduate, by telling The
Economist that "extraordinary circumstances will sometimes compel it
to drop [its] rule" of only admitting students who hold bachelor's
degrees.
He refused to comment specifically on Gottesman, citing Harvard's
policy of not commenting on the admission of any individual student.
Aisner also pointed out to The Economist that Harvard would surely
admit applicants like Bill Gates and Michael Dell, both of whom are
college dropouts.
But the often-snarky British weekly noted: "Needless to say, holding
the president's hand-sanitizer is a far cry from heading a Fortune
500 company."
Bush's Personal Aide To Enroll at Business School
Gottesman, college dropout and former beau to Bush daughter, to
begin in the fall
Published On 5/22/2006
By PARAS D. BHAYANI
Crimson Staff Writer
A 26-year-old college dropout who carries President Bush's breath
mints and makes him peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches will follow
in his boss's footsteps this fall when he enrolls at Harvard
Business School (HBS).
Though it is rare for HBS—or any other professional or graduate
school—to admit a student who does not have an undergraduate degree,
admissions officers made an exception for Blake Gottesman, who for
four years has served as special assistant and personal aide to
Bush.
Gottesman, a Texas native who attended Claremont-McKenna College in
California for one year, has long had ties to the Bush family. He
dated the president's daughter, Jenna Bush, nearly ten years ago
when he attended St. Andrew's Episcopal School of Austin.
After completing his freshman year at Claremont in 1999, he left to
join the Bush presidential campaign and later served as a junior
aide to former White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card. In February
2002, he became the president's personal assistant.
In his current role, Gottesman performs a wide range of duties, from
dog-sitting the president's Scottish terriers, Barney and Miss
Beazley, to carrying the president's speeches and giving him
the "two-minute warning" before a speech begins.
Gottesman has declined all requests for comment on his business
school admission, but White House staffers have described him as
loyal, warm, and fun-loving.
"He is a friend and adviser to every employee of the White House,
from career maintenance workers to cabinet secretaries," Deputy
Chief of Staff Joe Hagin told The Myrtle Beach Sun News. "He is
consistently kind and warm and generous with his time and provides
extraordinarily good advice."
Gottesman has likened his role at the White House to that of Charlie
Young on the NBC television program "The West Wing." When asked
about his similarity to Young in an interactive question-and-answer
session on the White House's Web site, Gottesman wrote, "Charlie
seems to be smarter, funnier, and better-looking. But, from what I
remember—our jobs are probably pretty similar."
HBS spokesman James E. Aisner '68 explained the decision to accept
Gottesman, even though he is not a college graduate, by telling The
Economist that "extraordinary circumstances will sometimes compel it
to drop [its] rule" of only admitting students who hold bachelor's
degrees.
He refused to comment specifically on Gottesman, citing Harvard's
policy of not commenting on the admission of any individual student.
Aisner also pointed out to The Economist that Harvard would surely
admit applicants like Bill Gates and Michael Dell, both of whom are
college dropouts.
But the often-snarky British weekly noted: "Needless to say, holding
the president's hand-sanitizer is a far cry from heading a Fortune
500 company."